Anatomy and Chemistry Basics
Muscle Tissue
Although it is striated, cardiac muscle differs from skeletal muscle in that it is highly branched with cells connected by overlapping projections of the sarcolemma called intercalated discs. These discs contain desmosomes and gap junctions. In addition, cardiac muscle is autorhythmic, generating its own action potential, which spreads rapidly throughout muscle tissue by electrical synapses across the gap junctions.
